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CENTRAL  CIRCULATION  AND  BOOKSTACKS 

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SCENE  AT  PAWTUCKET  FALLS 

THE  UPPER  STATION  OF  PAWTUCKET  ELECTRIC  CO.,  AND  GOFF’S  MILLS 


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SAMUEL  SLATER 


FATHER  OF  THE  COTTON  INDUSTRY  IN  AMERICA 


A.  Men.  Ful  <2  b 


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CITY  OF  PAWTUCKET  K L 

September  1st,  J9t0, 

Dj)ar  Sir — It  may  interest  you  to  know  that  the  City  of 
Pawtucket,  R.  I,  is  A HIVE  OF  DIVERSIFIED  INDUST- 
RIES, with  a colony  of  over  25,000  men,  women  and 
youths,  busy  as  bees  extracting  every  week  nearly  a quarter 
of  a million  dollars  as  wages.  Pawtucket's  reputation  as  a city 
of  diversified  industries  is  world-wide.  It  is  not  the  largest 
city  in  the  world,  neither  is  it  the  richest,  but  there  is  no  city 
on  earth  of  its  size  which  produces  such  a variety  of  manu- 
factured articles. 

Within  a radius  of  three  miles  of  Main  street  square,  the 
centre  of  Pawtucket,  which  includes  a part  of  Central  Falls, 
Cumberland,  Lincoln,  Seekonk,  and  Phillipsdale  there  are  fac- 
tories employing  over  40,000  people. 

Pawtucket's  history  as  an  industrial  community  is  unique 
and  unparalelled  in  the  annals  of  civic  development  in  America. 
It  became  a manufacturing  centre  over  250  years  ago  when 
Joseph  Jenks,  Jr.,  located  here  a few  years  after  the  landing  of 
the  Pilgrims  at  Plymouth.  He  began  the  manufacture  of  iron 
implements  for  household  and  agricultural  uses.  The  Paw- 
tucket falls,  with  virgin  forests  surrounding  it,  from  which 
charcoal  could  be  made,  and  the  bogs  nearby  with  a fair  grade 
of  iron  ore,  served  as  a magnet  to  attract  him.  For  years  he 
prospered  and  then  others  started  in  the  business,  some  making 
iron  work  for  the  ships  that  were  built  here.  The  Schooner 
Tyre  which  was  constructed  on  the  banks  of  the  Pawtucket 


O 4 8879 


4 


river  sailed  around  the  world  in  1790,  a remarkable  feat  in 
those  days.  David  Wilkinson,  a youthful  mechanical  genius  of 
Pawtucket  assisted  by  Elijah  Ormsbee  another  youth,  in  1792, 
built  a twelve  ton  steamboat  in  which  they  made  a trip  of  three 
and  a half  miles  from  Pawtucket  to  Providence.  This  was  at 
least  ten  years  before  Robert  Fulton  operated  a steamboat  on 
the  Hudson  river,  assisted  by  Daniel  French,  a Connecticut 
Yankee,  who  incidentally  came  here  previously  and  was  given 
permission  to  examine  and  make  drafts  of  one  of  the  first  boats 
known  to  be  operated  by  steam  in  America. 

President  Madison  at  his  second  inauguration  as  Chief 
Executive  of  United  States  on  March  4th,  1813,  wore  a suit  of 
woolen  cloth  made  in  a Pawtucket  factory.  It  was  the  first 
time  a President  or  high  public  official  had  worn  a suit  of 
American  made  cloth,  and  the  news  was  sent  broadcast.  When 
President  Monroe  was  inaugurated  for  his  first  term  in  1817, 
‘‘following  the  example  of  his  predecessor,  the  President  wore 
for  the  occasion  a suit  of  American  made  cloth  from  a Paw- 
tucket factory.’^  In  1820,  when  Hon.  N.  R.  Knight  took  his 
seat  in  the  U.  S.  Senate,  he  wore  a vest  of  material  made  by  the 
Pawtucket  Worsted  Company,  which  was  the  first  specimen  of 
American  made  worsted  shown  in  Washington  and  attracted 
considerable  attention.  President  Adams  in  1826  bought  a 
beautiful  lace  dress  in  Pawtucket  which  took  first  prize  at  the 
R.  I.  State  Fair.  Pawtucket’s  industries  were  in  the  limelight 
in  those  days  and  have  since  attracted  the  attention  of  textile 
and  mechanical  men  all  over  the  world. 

During  this  era  a fine  class  of  mechanics  developed  here, 
and  when  Samuel  Slater,  “the  father  of  cotton  manufacture  in 
America,”  came  to  Pawtucket  in  1790,  with  the  help  of  the 
David  Wilkinson  and  Sylvanus  Brown,  he  constructed  the  first 
successful  cotton  spinning  machinery  made  in  America.  The 


LOOKING  SOUTH  FROM  PAWTUCKET  CONGREGATIONAL  CHURCH. 


Wilkinson,  Brown,  and  Jenks  families  were  remarkable  me- 
chanical workers  in  those  days  and  the  foundations  they  laid 
for  their  descendants  are  still  being  built  upon.  Their  fame  as 
skilled  artisans  travelled  across  the  sea  and  early  in  the  next 
century  many  of  the  best  iron  workers  of  England  came  to 
Pawtucket  and  settled.  John  Thorpe,  a Pawtucket  mechanic, 
mvented  the  power  loom  in  1814,  and  Asa  Arnold  invented 
a differential  motion  for  speeders  and  a machine  for  separating 
wool.  Stephen  Jenks  made  small  arms  for  the  Continental 
troops  during  the  Revolution  and  in  1811  he  took  a contract 
from  the  Government  to  make  10,000  muskets,  a big  task  at 
that  time.  The  Wilkinsons  were  also  makers  of  heavy  presses 
used  in  New  Bedford  and  Nantucket  for  pressing  out  sperm 
oil.  In  1794  Oziel  Wilkinson  made  the  machinery  used  in  the 
construction  of  a canal  near  the  City  of  Boston,  the  patterns 
and  castings  being  made  at  Pawtucket.  He  also  made  the  first 
wind-gudgeons  used  in  this  country.  In  1797,  David  Wilkin- 
son invented  a gauge  and  sliding  lathe,  one  of  the  most  valua- 
ble mechanical  contrivances  ever  produced.  The  only  money 
he  received  from  it  at  that  time  was  ten  dollars  for  the  use  of 
the  patterns,  but  fifty  years  later  the  United  States  Congress 
deemed  it  so  meritorious  that  it  voted  him  a bonus  of  $10,000. 

From  that  time  to  the  present,  expert  machine  builders 
and  textile  operatives  have  made  Pawtucket  a ‘‘Mecca.’’  There 
are  big  iron  and  brass  foundries  here,  some  of  the  biggest 
machine  shops  in  the  country  making,  textile  machinery  for  all 
parts  of  the  world,  big  cotton  mills  turning  out  miles  of  cloth, 
immense  bleacheries  and  dye  houses  scattered  about  several 
sections  of  the  city  and  here  and  there  large  and  small  fac- 
tories turning  out  all  kinds  of  specialties.  Among  the  largest 
concerns  employing  from  700  to  3,000  workers,  are  the  Royal 
Weaving  Company  with  the  largest  weave  shed  in  the  world. 


6 


making  the  best  grade  of  linings,  the  Lorraine  Manufacturing 
Company  making  the  finest  cotton  and  worsted  fabrics,  the 
Coats  Thread  Company  turning  out  a large  part  of  the  world's 
consumption  of  thread,  the  Union  Wadding  Company  making 
cotton  batting  sold  all  over  the  world,  the  Howard  & Bullough 
Machine  Company,  one  of  the  largest  manufacturers  of  cotto% 
machinery  in  the  world,  the  Narragansett  Machine  Company 
making  gymnasium  apparatus  for  use  in  all  parts  of  the  civil- 
ized world,  Babcock  color  presses  and  machinery,  the  Hope 
Webbing  Company  with  the  largest  narrow  fabric  plant  in 
America,  the  Phillips  Insulated  Wire  Company  with  the  most 
modern  copper  wire  rolling  mill,  the  Goff  Mills,  where  tons  of 
mohair  braid,  plush  and  linings  are  made,  the  W.  H.  Haskell 
Company  and  the  Pawtucket  Manufacturing  Company  which 
make  large  quantities  of  bolts  and  nuts  and  the  machinery  for 
producing  the  same,  and  last  but  not  least  of  the  big  concerns, 
the  Potter  & Johnston  Machine  Company,  makers  of  automatic 
chucking  and  turning  machinery,  shapers  and  cotton  machinery. 
The  first  named  machines  are  considered  the  greatest  factor  in 
reducing  the  cost  of  production  of  component  parts  of  auto- 
mobiles. Nearly  every  day  shipments  of  their  machines  are 
made  to  foreign  countries  including  China,  Japan,  Russia,  and 
the  countries  of  Europe.  The  company  did  a half  million  dol- 
lar business  in  France  last  year.  The  shop  which  covers  about 
ten  acres  of  land  is  one  of  the  most  modern  in  the  world. 

In  addition  to  those  already  mentioned,  which  are  leaders 
of  their  kind  in  the  United  States,  there  are  about  fifty  more 
manufacturing  establishments  in  the  city  that  give  employment 
to  from  100  to  1,500  workers.  Among  them  are  the  Sol- 
way Textile  and  Dyeing  Company,  makers  of  the  Man- 
hattan shirtings,  the  Easton  & Burnham  Machine  Company, 
who  furnish  an  improved  type  of  spindle  for  the  mills  of  New 


7 


England  and  the  South;  the  Fales  & Jenks  Company,  makers 
of  spinning  and  twisting  machinery,  rotary  pumps  and  fire 
hydrants;  the  United  States  Fnishing  Company  (Dunnell 
Branch),  dyeing,  bleaching  and  print  works;  the  E.  Jenckes 
Manufacturing  Company,  and  the  Hemphill  Company,  both 
concerns  making  knitting  machines  which  are  shipped  all  over 
the  world,  the  former  concern  also  makes  wire  goods;  the 
George  H.  Fuller  Company  manufactures  immense  quantities 
of  jeweler’s  findings;  the  R.  Bliss  Manufacturing  Company, 
makers  of  toys  and  woodenware;  the  Lebanon  Mill  Company, 
makers  of  knitted  fabrics;  the  Pawtucket  Foundry  Company, 
who  make  drinking  fountains  for  many  of  the  big  cities  of 
America  and  also  several  articles  used  in  the  building  trades; 
the  J.  M.  Carpenter  Tap  and  Die  Company,  whose  product  is 
known  the  world  over;  the  Lumb  Knitting  Company  and  the 
Sakonnet  Knitting  Company,  manufacturers  of  women’s  un- 
derwear; the  Smith  Webbing  Company,  the  Blackstone  Web- 
bing Company,  the  Shannock  Narrow  Fabric  Company,  the 
Rhode  Island  Cardboard  Company;  the  National  Coated 
Paper  Company,  the  Hope  Paper  Company,  the  J.  S. 
Linton  Paper  Company,  the  Pawtucket  Glazed  Paper 
Company,  the  Linton  Brothers  Paper  Company,  the  American 
Yarn  Company,  the  Dexter  Yarn  Company,  the  Greene  & 
Daniels  Manufacturing  Company  and  the  Littlefield  Manufac- 
turing Company,  yarn  makers ; the  J.  J.  Kenyon  Manufacturing 
Company,  makers  of  braids  tapes  and  laces ; the  Salisbury 
Company,  makers  of  labels  and  shipping  tags ; the  J.  W.  Little 
Company,  mill  label  and  sample  card  printers ; the  Adam  Sut- 
cliffe Company,  printers  and  lithographers;  the  Jenckes  Knit- 
ting Company;  the  Mackenzie-Walton  Seamless  Wire  and 
Tubing  Company;  the  Metallic  Shell  and  Tube  Company, 
seamless  tubing;  the  Co-Operative  Seamless  Wire  Company; 


8 


the  United  Brush  Company;  the  United  Wire  Supply  Com- 
pany; the  Hand  Brewery;  R.  D.  Mason  Company,  dyers  and 
bleachers;  Blodgett  & Orswell  Company,  makers  of  glazed 
yarns  and  spool  cotton;  Jenckes  Spinning  Company;  Tamarack 
Company,  silk  textiles ; the  Burgess  Mills ; the  Slater  Mills, 
cotton  cloth;  the  Dempsey  Bleachery;  the  Harrison  Yarn  and 
Dyeing  Company;  Pawtucket  Evening  Times,  23,000  circula- 
tion; Chronicle  Publishing  Co.,  weekly;  Le  Jean  Baptiste  Pub- 
lishing Company,  French  semi-weekly ; the  Pawtucket  Linotyp- 
ing Company,  composition  for  printers,  and  the  New  England 
Automobile  Journal  Publishing  Company,  whose  publication  is 
one  of  the  pioneer  magazines  devoted  to  the  automobile  trade. 

After  enumerating  the  two  score  and  ten  big  concerns 
above  mentioned  one  would  wonder  if  there  was  room  for 
more,  yet  there  is  between  sixty  and  seventy  other  manufac- 
turing establishments  in  the  City  of  Pawtucket,  employing 
from  25  to  100  workers.  Among  the  number  are  the  follow- 
ing: The  French  Hair  Cloth  Company,  making  cloth  of  horse 
hair  imported  from  South  America;  the  Atwood-Crawford 
Company,  makers  of  all  kinds  of  spools  and  fancy  wood  turn- 
ers; the  Eastern  Advertising  Company,  manufacturers  of  Art 
Calenders  and  embossed  printing;  Collyer  Insulated  Wire 
Company,  makers  of  covered  wires  and  cables;  J.  S.  White 
Company,  machinery  castings ; the  Chase  Brush  Company ; the 
Thayer  Brush  Company;  the  Pawtucket  Hosiery  Company; 
the  Pawtucket  Braided  Fish  Line  Company;  the  Pawtucket 
Jewelry  Company;  the  Pawtucket  Warp  Company;  the  Mon- 
crief  Manufacturing  Company,  makers  of  the  Moncrief  rug 
rack,  which  is  shipped  all  over  United  States ; the  Sellew  Ma- 
chine Company,  makers  of  milling  and  shaping  machinery;  the 
Pawtucket  Tape  Company;  the  Pawtucket  Knife  and  Saw 
Company;  the  Vienna  Braid  and  Tape  Company;  the  R.  L 


LOOKING  WEST  FROM  PAWTUCKET  CONGREGATIONAL  CHURCH. 


9 


Crucible  Steel  Company;  the  Pawtucket  Brush  Company;  the 
Providence  Braid  Company,  (Pawtucket  branch)  ; Narragan- 
sett  Narrow  Fabric  Company;  the  American  Vending  Ma- 
chine Company,  which  has  automatic  toilet  paper,  emergency 
towels  and  automatic  ticket  selling  machines  in  nearly  all  of 
the  railroad  stations  in  America;  Columbia  Braider  Company; 
the  Crown  Hair  Cloth  Company;  the  Imperial  Silk  Mills;  the 
J.  S.  & W.  E.  Meehan  Company,  makers  of  silk  glorias ; the 
William  Hill  Company,  manufacturers  of  baby  carriage  robes, 
shawls  and  towels;  Excelsior  Loom  Reed  Works;  Blackstone 
Reed  and  Harness  Company,  wire  goods ; Blackstone  Machine 
Company;  Glencairn  Manufacturing  Company,  makers  of  shoe 
strings;  Fred  J.  Bancroft,  manufacturer  of  tennis  racquets, 
polo  sticks  and  wooden  toys;  George  W.  Payne  Company, 
builders  of  spoolers,  winders  and  quillers;  Charles  H.  Luther 
Company,  makers  of  cloth  stretchers  and  thread  dressers ; J. 
O.  Draper  Soap  Works;  the  Henry  F.  Jenks  Company  manu- 
facturers of  small  hardware  and  metal  novelties ; Collins 
Brothers,  cotton  machinery;  Eagle  Dye  Works;  Nonpareil 
Thread  Company;  Fred  J.  Halliday,  Jr.,  machinery  pattern 
maker;  Cole  Brothers,  makers  of  automatic  spinning  frame 
banding  machines ; Pawtucket  Paper  Box  Company ; J.  N.  Pol- 
sey  Company,  packing  cases  and  boxes ; Reliable  Manufactur- 
ing Company,  threads  and  yarns ; Shaker  Thread  Company ; 
Collyer  Machine  Company,  electrical  and  mechanical  engineers ; 
the  Pawtucket  Dyeing  and  Bleaching  Company;  the  Berry 
Spring  Bleachery;  American  Cotton  Mills  Company;  the  W.  B. 
Cobb  Company,  jewelry  manufacturers;  Roberts  Manufactur- 
ing Company,  jewelry;  Ohler  Jewelry  Company;  Killam  Clock 
Company,  makers  of  ‘'Banjo''  and  Mission  clocks  which  are  sold 
all  over  United  States;  Consolidated  Car  Fender  Company, 
which  makes  street  car  fenders,  universally  used  in  America; 


10 


McIntyre  Chemical  Company ; Boston  Braiding  Company ; 
Jenkinson  Brass  Foundry ; McKenna  Company,  brass  founders ; 
New  England  Machine  and  Electrical  Company;  Mullen  Broth- 
ers, electrical  engineers;  Gay  Leather  Company;  Gardner 
Broom  Factory;  Lyons  Delany  Coffee  and  Spice  Mills;  Daw- 
son Corset  Lace  Company;  L.  B.  Darling  Fertilizer  Company; 
John  C.  Culbert  Company,  metal  refiners;  Bucklin  Belting 
Company ; J.  T.  Cottrell  Company,  mill  work  contractors ; Frank 
Tingley  Company,  office  and  store  finishers ; Suter  Loom  Reed 
Company;  A.  E.  Tenney,  mill  machinists;  Ullrich  Brush  Com- 
pany; Briggs  Cotton  and  Paper  Waste  Company;  United  Wire 
Supply  Company;  United  Brush  Company;  Union  Cooperage 
Company,  and  Berry  Spring  Lithia  Water  Company;  R. 
I.  Electrical  Works,  and  R.  1.  Machinery  Company.  There 
are  cigar  factories,  gas  fixture  manufacturers,  mineral  water 
companies,  tin  and  sheet  iron  shops,  wood  turning  factories 
and  various  other  manufacturing  concerns  turning  out  products 
used  locally.  The  hum  of  machinery  in  Pawtucket  is  as  fam- 
iliar as  the  ticking  of  the  ticker  in  Wall  street. 

Pawtucket  is  constantly  having  new  enterprises  locate 
within  its  borders.  During  the  past  year  three  lace  making 
concerns  have  begun  operations,  one  the  Caderas  & Ozanne 
Company  coming  from  Calais,  PVance ; the  Regina  Lace  Com- 
pany and  the  Seekonk  Lace  Company.  The  latter  started  with 
local  capital.  The  machinery  for  the  last  two  concerns  was  im- 
ported from  Nottingham,  England.  The  Pawtucket  Lace  Fin- 
ishing Company  was  also  started  during  the  past  year.  These 
concerns  alone  will  give  employment  to  nearly  a thousand  men 
and  women  who  receive  big  wages.  Pawtucket  is  now  known 
as  the  'dace  making  centre  of  America.’’  The  biggest  lace 
making  plant  in  the  country  today  is  the  American  Textile 
Company,  which  began  operations  in  this  city  ten  years  ago, 


ll 


and  has  grown  rapidly.  At  the  present  time  an  addition  is 
being  constructed  which  will  double  the  concern's  capacity. 
The  Seekonk  Lace  Company  also  started  an  addition,  the  work 
having  begun  before  the  paint  was  dry  on  their  original  mill. 
The  lace  making  machines  have  been  imported  from  England 
and  France  in  the  past,  but  it  is  expected  that  within  another 
year  some  of  the  big  shops  of  Pawtucket  will  be  turning 
out  machines  of  the  latest  design.  That  Pawtucket  mechanical 
talent  is  capable  of  making  as  good  machinery  as  either  Eng- 
land or  France  is  freely  admitted  by  those  men  who  have  come 
here  to  start  plants.  Another  lace  manufacturing  company  is 
now  being  organized. 

Among  the  many  thriving  industries  is  the  Flexible  Veneer 
Company,  which  manufactures  a paper  veneer,  imitating  the 
most  expensive  wood  veneers.  It  is  used  for  many  purposes, 
but  largely  for  cabinet  work  and  panel  work  in  house  finish. 
The  cover  of  this  booklet  is  a sample  of  one  of  the  various 
wood  patterns  imitated.  One  of  the  chief  reasons  why  new 
concerns  locate  here  is  the  abundance  of  workers  familiar  with 
the  construction  and  operation  of  machinery. 

Since  its  incorporation  as  a city  in  1886,  Pawtucket  has 
had  a strong,  healthy,  steady,  growth.  Owing  to  its  diversity 
of  industries,  hard  times  and  serious  business  depression  are 
almost  unknown  here.  When  the  curtailment  in  cotton  produc- 
tion is  in  force,  the  machine  shops  are  running,  some  of  them 
night  and  day,  turning  out  machinery  for  all  kinds  of  work, 
especially  for  the  automobile  trade.  For  a city  of  over  51,000 
inhabitants  and  with  surrounding  towns  of  75,000  more,  who 
do  their  trading  here,  it  is  surprising  to  note  so  few  unem- 
ployed about  the  streets.  When  the  shop  whistles  blow  at  noon 
and  night,  the  visitor  is  always  impressed  with  the  thousands 
of  well  dressed  workers  flowing  out  of  the  gates  of  the  mills 


12 


and  shops.  In  the  four  banks  of  the  city  there  is  over  $12,000,- 
000  of  their  savings,  meaning  over  $200  for  every  man,  wo- 
man and  child  in  the  city,  and  in  addition  a very  large  number 
of  the  people  own  their  own  homes.  The  working  people  of 
Pawtucket  have  an  unexcelled  means  of  obtaining  a livelihood 
and  receive  more  per  capita,  than  workers  in  such  cities  as 
Lawrence,  Lowell,  Fall  River,  and  New  Bedford.  They  have 
advantages  for  their  educational,  spiritual  and  physical  welfare, 
second  to  none  in  United  States. 

With  its  score  of  modern  brick  eight  and  twelve  room  school 
houses,  both  public  and  parochial,  caring  for  over  10,000  chil- 
dren, evening  schools  of  manual  training  and  drawing  for 
grown  persons,  Kinyon's  Business  College,  a High  School,  a 
Boys’  Club,  a well  patronized  Public  Library,  a twelve  page 
daily,  a semi-  weekly  (French)  and  a weekly  newspaper,  its 
beautiful  churches.  Catholic  and  Protestant,  and  its  Y.  M.  C. 
A.,  Pawtucket’s  educational  and  spiritual  advantages  are  un- 
surpassed. It  has  300  acres  of  the  finest  park  lands,  to  be  found 
in  New  England,  playgrounds  scattered  in  all  sections  of  the 
city,  with  the  most  approved  forms  of  apparatus,  a score  of 
fields  for  baseball,  football,  bowling,  cricket,  golf  and  other 
athletic  sports  and  a trotting  track.  Two  rivers  with  half  a 
hundred  power  boats,  many  canoes  and  racing  shells  and  sev- 
eral theatres  provide  ample  means  for  recreation.  There  are 
a large  number  of  societies  affiliated  with  the  National  and  In- 
ternational organizations,  including  the  Masons,  Foresters, 
Odd  Fellows,  Knights  of  Columbus,  and  others.  The  Paw- 
tucket Business  Men’s  Association  with  nearly  400  members 
and  the  Pawtucket  Retail  Merchants  Association  with  a mem- 
bership of  nearly  150  of  the  representative  tradesmen  of  the 
city,  both  active  bodies  in  the  development  of  the  munici- 
pality, and  the  To  Kalon  Club,  which  has  recently  built  a club 


LOOKING  NORTH  FROM  PAWTUCKET  CONGREGATIONAL  CHURCPI. 


13 


house  costing  over  $50,000,  show  what  a prominent  place  social 
intercourse  takes  in  the  life  of  Pawtucket  people. 

The  civic  improvements  are  kept  apace  of  the  needs  of  the 
people,  money  being  continually  spent  for  the  construction  of 
new  streets,  sewers,  schools,  fire  stations  and  other  permanent 
improvements.  The  streets  are  kept  clean,  well  lighted  and 
policed.  The  municipal  water  works  is  second  to  none  in  the 
United  States  for  quality  of  water,  and  good  service,  for 
domestic  uses,  mill  supply  and  fire  purposes.  There  are  over 
180  miles  of  pipe,  with  an  average  pressure  of  100  pounds  to 
the  square  inch.  A new  15,000,000  gallon  pumping  engine  has 
been  recently  installed  and  there  are  three  other  pumps  of 
12,000,000  gallons.  The  Diamond  Hill  reservoir  covers  two 
hundred  and  seventy  acres  and  holds  nearly  a billion  and  a half 
gallons  of  water;  by  raising  the  dam  ten  feet,  it  would  hold 
another  billion.  The  Happy  Hollow  pond  near  the  station 
holds  72,000,000  gallons,  and  the  Stump  Hill  reservoir,  301  feet 
above  tide-water,  flows  into  the  mains,  giving  plenty  of 
pressure.  There  are  over  90  miles  of  improved  streets 
and  60  miles  of  sewers.  The  fire  department  is  one  of  the  best 
equipped  in  the  country  and  the  fire  loss  is  exceedingly  small. 
The  area  of  the  city  is  about  nine  square  miles  and  nearly 
square  in  shape,  with  eleven  main  streets  running  to  the  busi- 
ness district  like  the  spokes  of  a wheel,  making  a most  con- 
venient layout.  The  trolley  system  is  an  excellent  one,  with 
cars  from  the  suburban  towns  running  through  all  the  principal 
streets  and  with  good  transfer  privileges.  A new  hospital  has 
been  recently  opened  that  will  equal  any  in  New  England.  Gas 
mains  and  electric  wires  are  in  nearly  every  street  and  the 
people  use  both  for  cooking  and  lighting.  A central  steam 
heating  plant  heats  nearly  all  the  public  buildings,  store  and 
office  buildings,  churches  and  residences  in  the  centre  of  the 


14 


city.  The  long  distance  station  of  the  American  Telephone 
and  Telegraph  Company  is  located  in  Darlington,  a suburb  of 
Pawtucket,  and  direct  connections  are  made  so  that  people  in 
Pawtucket  are  talking  with  persons  in  Jacksonville,  Fla.,  or 
Omaha,  Neb.,  nearly  2,500  miles  away,  when  the  occasion  re- 
quires. There  are  over  2,000  telephones  in  the  stores,  shops, 
and  homes  of  Pawtucket,  which  show  that  modern  conven- 
iences are  used  in  this  hustling  city.  There  are  also  two  tele- 
graph offices.  Western  Union  and  Postal  Telegraph. 

There  are  several  advantages  which  commend  the  City  of 
Pawtucket  to  the  manufacturer  beside  the  abundance  of  most 
efficient  workers.  There  are  two  big  freight  depots,  one  on  the 
east  side  of  the  city  and  the  other  on  the  west  side.  The  main 
line  of  the  New  York,  New  Haven  and  Hartford  Railroad, 
between  Boston  and  New  York  runs  through  the  centre  of  the 
city,  and  there  are  two  branch  lines.  A good  tidewater  harbor, 
which  is  the  head  of  navigation  in  Rhode  Island,  comes  well 
up  into  the  city.  It  is  now  being  developed  extensively  by  the 
Federal  Government  and  the  State.  The  extension  of  the 
Grand  Trunk  Railroad  from  the  Canadian  north-west  into 
Rhode  Island  is  laid  out  to  run  through  the  west  and  south  ends 
of  Pawtucket  to  tidewater,  opening  up  new  sites  for  factories, 
and  will  give  excellent  shipping  facilities  to  the  western  coun- 
try by  rail,  and  the  south  by  water.  The  Blackstone  river,  that 
wonderful  stream  which  develops  more  horse-power  than  any 
Other  river  in  the  world  of  equal  watershed,  runs  through  and 
reaches  tidewater  at  Pawtucket.  The  Pawtucket  Electric 
Company  with  three  stations  making  current  by  coal  and  water 
falls  is  well  prepared  to  furnish  electricity  to  manufacturing 
concerns.  Over  7,000  horse-power  is  now  distributed  to  some 
of  the  large  and  many  of  the  small  factories.  There  is  still 
room  for  a few  more  establishments,  and  some  good  manu- 


15 


facturing  sites  are  available  along  the  railroads  and  the  river 
fronts.  Pawtucket  business  men  are  always  ready  to  invest 
in  new  enterprises  with  good  prospects  and  otherwise  materi- 
ally help  new  comers. 

All  communications  addressed  to  the  mayor  will  receive 
attention* 


Respectfully  yours, 

ROBERT  A.  KENYON, 

Mayor. 


the  first  cotton  mill  in  AMERICA  ERECTED  ON  THE  RANKS  OF  THE  RLACK- 
STONE  RIVER  I7Q^. 


y 


J:  ft 


7 


PAWTUCKET  HARBOR 

DIVISION  STREET  BRIDGE,  HEAD  OF  NAVIGATION  IN  RHODE  ISLAND 


THE  PAWTUCKET  GAS  AND  ELECTRIC  CO.,  PLANT 

ONE  OF  THE  MOST  MODERN  LIGHT,  HEAT  AND  POWER  STATIONS  IN  THE  COUNTRY. 


